Re: [UUPoly-L] Stranger in a Strange Land

["Dorothy Krause" <dorothyk@charter.net>]

The answer, for me, is yes, but no. Other Heinlein books had far greater
impact on me then Stranger. Specifically Time Enough for Love and I Will
Fear No Evil shaped a lot of my relationship ideals, along with the family
and relationship structures described in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It
wasn't until I re-read them in the mid to late 90's before light bulbs
started going off and it became obvious where my thinking came from, after
having read them first as a young adult in the mid 70's. (See bit I posted
from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, at http://dorothyk.net/MoonMarriage.html
in '97 or so. I still consider it somewhat of a realistic ideal.)

If Oberon had not used Stranger as the basis for forming The Church of All
Worlds, which spun off the poly movement to a large degree, it would likely
not have gotten nearly the credit that it has.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberon_Zell-Ravenheart Note, his wife, Morning
Glory, is generally credited with penning the term Polyamory.

I believe there are better fiction books that describe multipartnering than
Stranger, but I acknowledge the significance of the book within the
movement. It just ain't my bible. I hang out with folks, including priests
and priestesses, that dropped out of CAW during a period of turmoil within
the organization. Not certain whether I would have joined or not, if the
opportunity presented itself, but I do get a lot from being able to listen
to what they have to share. I don't think many of the people in my group are
active there, but there is a decent discussion group available at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAWfeehouse if people would be interested in
discussions about CAW, past, present, and future. 

Dorothy
Madison, Wisconsin

On 8/17/2008 5:22:50 PM, polojohn60@aol.com wrote:
> I missed reading the Heinlein novel in the
> 60's, but read it recently  and
> Stranger in a Strange Land resonated with me.  Have others  read it 
> and has it been as important to Polyamory as Wikipedia implies?
> 
> Polo John
> 
>